


Lost Souls

by terrasensqueen



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Post Thor, Pre Thor: The Dark World, lokane - Freeform, sets place in original avengers movie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:55:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24156976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrasensqueen/pseuds/terrasensqueen
Summary: For years, a mysterious boy with bright emerald eyes visited her dreams. When SHIELD recruits her as the replacement for Erik Selvig to relocate the Tesseract, the boy in the glass cage called Loki, the apparent mastermind of the whole dilemma the world was in, strikes her speechless as the boy from her dreams. In the end, they’re just lost souls who finally found their way to each other, despite what they first thought. LOKI x JANE
Relationships: Jane Foster/Loki
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kidnapping at its finest

Jane Foster would say that the first time she had met the boy in her dreams had been when she was about thirteen years of age. After the death of her father, her mother had pushed herself to the brink of passing out each night, every day dangerously coming close to going over the edge. And Jane supposed she knew why. Annie Jenkins-Foster had emerged herself into her work as a coping device to escape from the world around her. It didn’t make it hurt less whenever she distanced herself from Jane. Years later, Jane understood the feeling of studying something so fiercely to stop your heart from hurting. The loss of the one man who she thought would be her forever had done that to her.

But to be honest, it had been Thor’s absence that had pushed her over the edge.

And also to be honest, work hadn’t helped her. All of her work always made a full circle to one common goal—always to try to get back to Thor. In the end, what really had helped was the mystery boy in her dreams, the one who was always there for her. She supposed she was lucky to have him, her mother surely didn’t have someone like him in his life.

After all, her mother’s life ended only five years after her father’s death. She supposed she should have been thankful that Annie had held on so long, but what child is thankful at a parent’s death?

Her life had started once she had gotten an internship at a lab, at nineteen. Jane had graduated high school early, trying to get her PhD in a few short years, all the product of trying to bat away her problems. Thor may have accelerated the crumbling down of her mind, but she had been falling ever since her parents had died. When you’re forced to grow up too fast, it takes a toll on you, as Jane had learned. Being a scientist had kept her for a while, and then the catastrophic events called Thor happened. What had happened next had surprised her, honestly. After all, it’s not every day that the secret government organization that stopped you from going to a crash site, labling it radioactive, who took all of your stuff, the only way it had been gotten back by forementioned sort of ex boyfriend.

 _“This_ is SHIELD? You know, I expected... more, really. After you so rudely took all of my life’s work—“

”—Miss Foster, we _returned_ all the items that we borrowed,” the man who called himself Agent Phil Coulson smoothly interjected, subtly emphasizing the lie that they had only borrowed everything she had been found with. To this day, Jane Foster still was confused on why SHIELD had found the need to confiscate all the items she had had, even after her near meltdown. She would admit, she had overreacted, but pretty much all of her stuff had been handmade by herself, the notebooks upon notebooks containing countless observations from all of her years as a scientist. Perhaps she had reacted strongly, but at least half a decade’s worth of notes and memories weren’t _nothing._

“Mmm, yeah, okay. Why am I here anyway?” She asked, turning to face him, stopping entirely as her arms crossed defiantly. “Why did you drag me all the way from New Mexico to, what is this, New York? I was in the middle of an important project,” she exclaimed, her arms now waving through the air, making obscene gestures that even she couldn’t decipher. She calmed down, digging her bitten nails into her palms in an attempt to regain her composure, settling for a strained smile.

Coulsen smiled, unimpressed yet slightly amused. “Our sources say that you’ve been hung up on inter-dimensional wormholes and other such work with Doctor Erik Selvig.”

”Well, okay, so I was trying to find a way back to Thor,” she defended, her voice faltering slightly. The confident rush she had gotten was starting to fade away, her insecurities seeping into her voice. “Wait. You mentioned Erik. Is he here? Did you kidnap him too?”

Coulsen was obviously getting exasperated, Jane could tell that. “Dr. Selvig came here out of his own will to study the artifact that we’ve recently started research on. We confiscated his cellphone, the reason why you never received any calls,” he added, catching her look.

Jane tried to give a fierce glare but was interrupted by a yawn. Slumping down slightly, she felt a wave of tiredness wash over her as they turned a corner. "I'm tired. Seriously, I haven't eaten in hours, and I haven't slept in so long it's crazy—"

She stopped her starting tirade at the familiar sight of a man. Thor, she thought. Thor was here—but why? He had said he would return to her, and he said that a year and a half ago. Why was he here? Furthermore, why was he here—without telling her about his arrival? Jane distantly took notice of the others littered around the glass table, a redhead with insane confidence, a demure scientist like her who was pointing out stuff on the hologram projected from a device. There was also someone who took cosplaying Captain America way too far and what she recognized as the bilionare, Tony Stark. Along with, of course, who she now deemed her ex boyfriend.

Great. Another failed trophy to add to her wall of shame.

She took into note in the back of her mind the way that the agents who had apprehended her had stepped away alightly, giving her full, unrestricted access to the man who had caused her so much pain. Thor's back was too her, him being too focused on whatever the hell they were talking about that he hadn't noticed her yet. Stalking up to his turned back, she reached up to tap his shoulder, smiling with a lightness she didn't know and a fakeness someone could smell from a mile away. "Hi."

He started slightly, looking around wildly. " _Jane?"_ He asked incredulously. He whirled on Coulsen. "I had been under the impression that she had moved her to a secure location?"

Coulsen winced. "Well, tell that to the big guy. Fury wanted her in after Selvig got turned."

 _"Moved?!_ What am I, some sort of toy for you to do whatever you want with me? And also, what do you mean, 'after Erik got turned?' You told me he was here!"

"This Asgardian called Loki came and turned some of our best men into brainwashed servants." Jane was disturbed with how easily Coulsen had said that. "Dr. Selvig—Dr. Selvig was one of the casualties."

Jane's outward persona was the pictureque idea of calmness, but inside she was a chaotic sea of confusion. Loki... the name was familiar, tugging on her memories in a way that made her head hurt. Shaking her thoughts away, she stepped forward, sleep forgotten and a determined look on her face. "This is for the year and a half that you made me wait.” The slap came startlingly loud, the crack resonating through the air. Thor didn’t even flinch, and it made sense, Jane thought, but it made the satisfaction of her victory short lived and bitter.

”Jane,” he repeated. “I know—“

She interrupted him with another slap that left her palm tingling and tender, but the rush of satisfaction was plentiful at the sight of the red mark on his pristine skin. “And that was for coming back to Earth—and not telling me.”

In the back of her mind, she could hear the red head faintly saying, “I like her.”

Tony Stark stood up from his seat near the hologram, and tucked his glasses into his pocket, striding over to Jane. “You must be Jane Foster,” he announced, extending his hand in a gesture for a handshake. “I’ve said a rendition of this to Bruce before, but your work on astrophysics are pretty much unparalleled.”

”Thanks. I guess.” She turned towards Coulsen. “I’ve said this on the way here, the only reason why I’m here is cause you said I would have a lab here. You guys ruined most of my work, and a lot of that stuff took years to make.”

”Hold on,” Stark interjected. “You ruined scientific equipment? And you wonder why I didn’t trust SHIELD the first time they approached me with an offer,” he muttered.

Her phone rang, Seventeen from Heathers blaring out of the minuscule speakers embedded in the device. She fumbled to answer, almost dropping her phone in the process. She gave an awkward smile, saying, “Sorry, I have to take a call.” Ignoring everyone’s stares, she answered it, Darcy’s caller ID imprinting on her eyes. Her best friend had changed her picture yet again, this time to a kawaii pizza on a neon yellow background that hurt her retinas. “Darcy, hi. Why did you call me?”

”Oh hey, Janey,” Darcy said in her usual bubbly tone, the sound of her gum chewing resonating into Jane’s ears. “How are you? I haven’t heard for you in a day, and before you ask me why I noticed it now, let’s just say... wait, never mind, you probably don’t want to hear it. Anyway, why aren’t you home yet? I’m your intern and we should be doing... intern-y shit.”

Jane mentally sighed. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she exhaled. “Darcy, I was detained. I’m in New York now.”

”Ooh, send me a pic of the Empire State Building. And I want a selfie of you in front of the Statue of Liberty. Wait, did those weird SHIELD people get you? I _told_ you they looked shady.”

At this point, Coulsen coughed audibly.

”Hold up, is someone sick? You know you have a bad immune system, Jane.”

”Is this the Darcy Lewis that I encountered on my first visit to Midgard?” Thor inquired, looking lost.

Jane flipped him off, putting all of her attention to Darcy. “Darce—“

”Wait, was that Thor that I heard?” Darcy asked. “Yo, Hammer Dude, do you still have Mew Mew?”

Thor looked confused. “Mew... Mew? Surely this mortal knows that my hammer is called Mjolnir?”

” _Darcy_ ,” Jane hissed. “Is there a particular reason for your call?”

”Nah, not really—“

Jane hung up on her, a strained smile stretching her lips. “I apologize for my friend’s behavior. You mentioned my lab?”

”I’ll lead you there.” Stark jumped at the opportunity, to get out of the meeting, Jane presumed. “And seriously? For a spy organization, your staff need an intellectual upgrade.”

”I... don’t follow,” the Captain America cosplayer said. “Why do we need an intellectual upgrade?”

Jane didn’t exactly follow either—she had seen no problems with the intellectual capacity of the people there—but she smiled slightly as Stark pointed at the guy who had spoke, a deadpan look on his face. “ _That_ , ladies and gentleman, is a perfect example of what I mean.”

The redhead smirked. “As Tony seems to be incapable of doing anything other than belittling others and inflating his ego, I suppose that I’ll have to be the one to show you to your lab.” She gave a shallow bow that was borderline mocking, although the playful wink she slipped Jane afterwards erased the thoughts of malicious intent. “Natasha Romonaff at your service.”

Jane nodded. Natasha led her out the door, through many, many dark hallways, past glass doors that did little to hide what was inside (if they were a spy organization, she would have thought that they wouldn’t be so transparent), and up a few flights of stairs. She gasped slightly, out of breath, her lack in physical stamina only highlighted by the fact that Natasha had barely broken a sweat. “I see—I see why everyone’s so fit,” she panted. “Do you have to go through this every day?”

Natasha looked back, smirking. That seemed to be her default expression to fall back on. “Actually, that isn’t why we’re all fit. We have the gym for that. Extensive training still exists even in the air.”

Ah yes. Jane had almost forgot that they were in an air craft of some sort that held them above the ground, way up in the sky, camouflaged by some sort of mirroring tech that she hadn’t learned. She was an astrophysicist, not an engineer. “Do you have to go through this everyday?” She repeated.

”No.” At Jane’s shocked look, Natasha elaborated with another one of her smirks—smirks that we’re starting to get annoying. “I figured it would be fun to mess with you. See what you’re made of.”

”I didn’t have to go through all that shit?! Seriously?”

”You learn to take a few jokes around here.” Natasha looked up, her eyes suddenly lit up with a more serious light. “With the way that our lives are going, it’s nice for a little humor.”

Jane didn’t have any words. She opted to stay silent as Natasha navigated a few more corridors. They swept last multiple doors, but one caught her interest. “What’s in there?” She asked curiously.

Natasha shrugged. “Nothing you’d be into. It’s the maximum security jail cell. It hosts that god that invaded Earth, Loki. You may have heard of him. He’s Thor’s brother, plus the fact that he killed about eighty people in forty eight hours.”

”Family issues,” Jane murmured, although her mind was far from what Natasha was talking about. The clothing and the dark hair... from what she could see of it, it seemed sort of... familiar. “Can I go in?”

”I guess you can? There will be cameras watching you though,” the scarlet haired woman warned.

”When are there not?” Jane inquired, a bittersweet smile on her face. It was a rhetorical question and thankfully, Natasha didn’t answer. It got awkward whenever someone answered a rhetorical question, and to Jane’s luck, it seemed to happen a lot to her. She slid open the door, carefully walking across the seemingly endless metal catwalk.

The man in the glass cage turned, a maniacal gleam lighting up her emerald eyes, a smirk—what was up with this world and it’s endless supply of smirking people?—highlighting his finely structured features. “Miss Foster,” he announced, his voice the perfect representation of serenity. He had an accent that she couldn’t quite place, an accent that made him more refined and more formidable. “We meet again.”

And that’s when it hit her. The emerald eyes, the onyx hair, the gold and green—it was the man from her dreams.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it too much to ask for answers?

Jane wondered for how long she had been in the room. The coldness of the metal catwalk had seeped into her bones hours ago—although at this point, she didn’t even know how long she’d been sitting there. All sense of time had left her. _The room is supposed to be a prison,_ she thought. And yet there was something to it, a sort of air that countered everything—all the coldness and the isolation—and made her feel like she was at peace.

It had to do with the man in the glass cage.

In Jane’s world, coincidences didn’t exist. She didn’t believe in Fate, per see, but nothing happened randomly. If there was anything she’d learned in her life as a scientist and the pawn in sick games of gods and myths and monsters, it was that if something seemed too good to be true, _it was usually because it was_.

The man—Loki, she realized numbly in the back of her mind—kept staring at her with that annoyingly _smug_ andself-satisfied smirk. It was seriously pissing off the scientist in her, the idea that he knew something that she didn’t completely understandable and plausible, yet it set her nerves on fire ( not in that way, goddammit! ) and set forth an irrational irritation in her. Jane could feel her bitten nail beds digging into her palms and quickly straightened out her fingers, determined to show no outward sense of disarray.

~~To be honest, the way she had been screaming at him for the past hours probably discredited her statement right away, but that was beside the point.~~

Loki noticed the unclenching of her fingers, and if it was possible, his smirk grew even wider. “Are you quite finished?”

She glared, her frustration only growing at the unaffected, bland smile he threw her way in response. _“Yes,”_ she hissed. “And stop ignoring my questions!”

He raised his eyebrow. “Which question, Jane, darling? Forgive me, but your inquiry seems to have passed from my mind.”

Jane raised a finger, one that was shaking in pure annoyance. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” She caught three opening of his mouth and hurriedly cut him off, not wanting to hear another one of his languid, deflecting replies. “Of course you are, bastard. That’s what you do, isn’t it? Piss off people and watch from the sidelines as your ‘evil plans’ come to fruition.”

His lips quirked up—and no, Jane wasn’t paying any special attention to his mouth. “I’m flattered that you think so highly of me, love.”

She threw up her hands and screamed her frustration, her voice high and shrill. On any normal occasion, she would have laughed at how pathetic and stereotypically girlish the action was, but Loki was pushing her buttons in ways she didn’t even know they could be pushed. “Why did I think that sneaking out and finding you again after Natasha had literally dragged me out would have given me any answers at all?”

”I wouldn’t know,” he said offhandedly. “You’re the one who sought me out.”

”Just answer the question, goddammit!”

”Which question? I’ve noticed that you still have not specified which one.”

Jane pinched the bridge of her nose. “Why are you in my dreams?” She enunciated carefully, her words curt from irritation.

She didn’t actually expect him to give her a straight answer, so when he rolled his shoulders and gave her a response that was actually semi-intelligible, all that she could do was blink like an idiot. “To bother with Asgard’s golden prince. With all the airs of logical practicality that you put on, I’d expect that to be obvious.”

”Are you insulting my intelligence?” She exclaimed. It shouldn’t have affected her as much as it did, but her intelligence had been the singular thing that had made her of any worth at all through out her life, and when he acted as if she didn’t even have that, she felt as if she was worth nothing at all.

”Of course not, love. I find you quite invigorating when you’re not preoccupied with Thor.”

An involuntary flush threatened to cover her cheekbones. Jane was getting so many mixed signals from him. One second he was completely infuriating and Jane wanted to punch his stupidly perfect nose and then the next he said something that shouldn’t be so charming, yet it made her feel like she was on some sort of adrenaline rush and her feet weren’t touching the ground. She disguised her inner turmoil by pinching her nose dramatically and asking another exasperated question. “And how exactly do you invade my dreams?”

”So touchy. What an odd choice of words. ‘Invade’ your dreams?”

”Answer the question!”

He sighed, a long, drawn-out sound that contrasted with the slight smile pulling up the corners of his mouth. Loki spread his arms. “Magic, of course. My mother—“ he paused and a small wave of hurt flashed over his face so quickly that Jane thought she had imagined it. “I mean—Frigga, Thor’s mother, taught me magic. One time she decided to teach me to shape dreams. After all the horrible poetry Thor has sprouted about you once he had returned to Asgard, I decided to see if you, in fact, did have ‘stars in your hair’ and ‘skin pale as the moon.’”

She winced. “Oh god, that’s really bad.”

” _Gods,”_ Loki corrected.

”I have a hard time thinking of you as gods. You’re not exactly all powerful,” she ignored Loki’s affronted breath, “and you’re all so petty. You’re just stronger, immortal versions of humans.”

”Really?”

She spun around, the voice so familiar. A scowl was marring her face as the familiar accented voice of Thor rang in her ears like some sort of disconcerting melody. Jane knew that seeing red was a metaphor, but she could swear that crimson was tinging the edge of her vision as all the feelings of resentment and anger and frustration that she’d beat down into the farthest crevices of her soul came rushing up to the surface.

Jane didn’t really remember what came next, other than the fact that her hand was swinging through the air as it collided with—

Nothing. It collided with absolutely nothing. She stared incredulously at the image of Thor in front of her, wondering if it was some sort of hallucination that her mind has cursed onto her consciousness come to torture her.

A snap from behind her had her spinning at the sound to see Loki with that insufferable smirk. She gaped. “That was—“

”It’s nice to see your _true_ feelings about Thor,” he interrupted, not even sounding a bit remorseful. He raised his eyebrow and released a sigh. “Do you still believe we’re merely humans?”

”That’s not what I—okay, fine, some of you can work some party tricks. Ir wasn’t like it was _solid_ or anything; you’re not really that powerful.”

“Why put that much effort into something that was simply to get a bit of emotion out of you?”

Jane wanted to argue with him, she really did, but he was just sitting so unaffectedly with that goddamn smirk and— Okay, this was getting ridiculous. She slumped back, her back sliding across the steel. “Whatever. I think I wasted enough time her anyway.”

”You do know that I could create another dream for you and me if I wanted,” Loki called after her retreating form.

She flipped him off, ignoring the sensuous chuckle that followed.

* * *

“Agent Romanoff, where’s Dr. Foster?”

Natasha shrugged, her red hair left messed up from her latest mission. Getting down from the helicarriers to complete missions had become a hassle that she could have done without. Of course, torturing people for information was always fun—in her line of work, sadism had become she _had_ adapted to easily—but the amount of helicopters and grappling hooks needed to lower herself down was surprisingly draining. She noticed Coulsen's look and rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, Coulsen. I'm not her babysitter."

"I know that," Coulsen said with patronizing slowness. "But Dr. Foster isn't in her room or in her lab. Since there's no way of her getting off of this craft..." he trailed off.

Natasha's eyes widened. "Oh shit," she muttered. "Check the cameras."

"We're already doing that," he called after her. "The rest of the team's gathered together by the security cameras."

She didn't answer, already running down, her gun slipped into its holster. She probably wouldn't need it, but hell, she could and that was what mattered. She arrived at the doors, carefully reigning in her breathing to normal. _Clint would have a field day if Natasha Romanoff was winded by a simple run,_ she thought before remembering that Clint was gone. Her breath caught, a wave of guilt washing over her. 

"Where is Jane?"

Natasha flipped the god off wearily, opting to interrupt his sure to come tirade. "Where did you last see Jane?" She asked, her gaze piercing through the others. "Come on, nothing? Stark, seriously? You hung out with her all day, where is she?"

The man shrugged. "I don't know," he responded in that same self-confidant, patronizing tone that Natasha had come to hate. "We talk science, not stuff like her dating life or personal life shit. Ask the Hammer Dude," he said, motioning towards Thor.

"I do not know where Lady Jane has gone," Thor started tiredly. "We have not talked in much time."

"Well, he's of no use," Stark muttered. He looked towards the cameras, relief showing plainly on his face. "God, _finally_. The cameras are up. What kind of shitty tech team do you have? JARVIS could have done this is seconds."

"What's JARVIS?"

"Contractions, Stars and Stripes," Stark quipped distractedly, ignoring his question. "I'm proud of you."

Natasha felt a tired scowl coming on her face. "Shut up and look at the cameras," she ordered. "Seriously, Stark, we need to find Jane."

They all huddled over the cameras, Natahsa elbowing quote a few sides to get the view she desired. "Well, she's not in any of the main corriders," she muttered. "Or in the boiler room. Or the main deck, even."

"Could we check camera footage of the cells in the last half hour?" Thor asked, his voice rough, tinged with that same accent that Natasha had come to associate with Asgardians. "I had a strange feeling, and that’s never a good thing with my brother.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose but complied. “See, nothing out of the—“

Stark pushed past her and pointed at the monitor. “That’s Foster right there.” He looked around to a sea of similarly confused faces. “What’s she doing there?”

The door opened and Natasha’s hand shot to the gun at her waist. Jane slipped in, rubbing her eyes. She noticed the group of them and her dark eyes widened. “Oh, sorry, this isn’t my room.” She inched towards the door, a sheepish expression on her face. “I’ll be going now.”

Coulsen stepped forward. “Miss Foster, why were you shown in Loki’s prison area?”

Natasha could see Jane’s eyes widen, and she noticed the way her breathing stuttered. She didn’t think anyone else did, though. But when she started to talk, her voice came out strong. “Probably some illusion spell that Loki made. He’s crazy—he probably just does random things for no reason. Maybe he conjures up images of all of you just to pass the time.”

It’s a far fetched claim, and Natasha didn’t know how anyone really believed her, but she suddenly saw everyone—the people who’d been trained to see lies—starting to nod and look complacent in her answer. She was shocked, definitely, but she had come to think of Jane as a friend, and that was a hard thing to get in the assassin business, so she dismissed Jane’s strange behavior and smiled at her. “I’ll show you to your room.”

Jane shot her a quick smile that’s tinged with disbelief as if she was as confused about everyone believing her flimsy lie as Natasha was. “That’ll be great. I’m sorry, I just thought that expiring would be easier when everyone was asleep and I wouldn’t get in anybody’s way.”

* * *

Jane’s dream about ice cream, Darcy, and an unfortunately placed banana peel melted away as the familiar golden palaces come into her view. She glared at Loki as she sat down on the Bifrost, the rainbow bridge smooth as glass and hard as steel beneath her touch.

“Hello, Jane.”

”Sup,” she intoned sarcastically. “I’m really not in the mood, and I told you that I didn’t want you interrupting my dreams again, so can I leave now.”

He laughed, the sound sending shivers down her back. “Did you have a good time explaining your presence outside my cell?”

“It was—“ She sat up, her eyes sharp as she came to a conclusion. “That was you! You made them believe that really bad lie I said.”

”It wasn’t that bad,” he said. “You didn’t stutter, at least.”

”Oh, stop denying it,” she groused.

”I am, actually.” His tone was placid, but there was an edge to it that she couldn’t decipher. Anger? Amusement? Confusion? “I didn’t do a thing. Actually, that was all you.”

Jane scoffed. “Shut up. I don’t have magic or anything.”

”No. No, you don’t.” There was a long period of silence before he looked over at her, the same unreadable expression in his eyes, although now it appeared to be knowing amusement. “But do you really need any?”

Was he insinuating that she was a good liar? Jane didn’t know what to think of that—but then again, she was the same with about half the things that Loki said. Instead of saying anything, she sighed and laid her head down on the glassy surface.

As she closed her eyes, the image of Asgard melted away as Loki dissolved the dream and sent her back into a dreamless slumber. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated. Yes, I’m as shocked as you are. Comments and kudos are always appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR’S NOTE: haha you weren’t expecting that, were you? lol you probably were. I wasn’t that creative with this chapter, I’ll admit, but I love how nat is like “you won’t be into this guy.” wATch Me bitch! he is EXACTLY her type


End file.
